


The Big Search

by shutterbug



Category: Ripper Street
Genre: Crack, Fun, Funny, Gen, Investigations, Sea Monsters, Weirdness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:07:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21993439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shutterbug/pseuds/shutterbug
Summary: The Leman Street boys investigate strange sightings in the Thames.(This is a silly fic, and am writing it completely for fun. I really hope you enjoy it, but take it for what it is: total crack. Much love.)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	The Big Search

“Oh, Fred, this is absurd.” 

Edmund threw himself back into his desk chair and peered up at Fred Abberline, who loomed over his desk, dropping photographs onto his blotter, one by one. Edmund glanced at the photographs as they landed—one, a grainy depiction of an elongated shape that rose from the surface of choppy water; another, an equally grainy image of a dark hump. Edmund pointed at the rounded object. “This could be a rock, Fred. A _rock_.” 

“It may be,” Fred admitted, but still shook his head. “But, rock or no, it is now a matter of public order.” 

“It is _not_ , Fred,” Edmund replied, pushing the pile of photographs to the far edge of his desk. “It is a matter of public fascination and false fervor. And it will fade into oblivion if we pay it no heed.” 

Fred raised his eyebrows. “I would not be so certain, Ed.” 

“It is a hoax, Fred!” Edmund sat upright in his chair and leaned forward, slapping his open hands on his blotter. A photograph caught the resulting breeze and floated off the desk and onto the floor. “It is a fairytale spun by—”

“I don’t know ‘bout no fairytales but I _do_ know that I’ve heard plenty of men buzzin’ about this monster for days now, down Nigel’s pub.” 

At the intrusion of a new voice, both men snapped their heads toward Edmund’s door. Homer Jackson occupied the open space and, leaning on the door frame, lit a cigarette. 

“See?” Edmund said, gesturing to Jackson, who tilted his head toward the ceiling to exhale a long stream of white-grey smoke. “A story perpetuated by drunks and—”

Now Jackson stood at attention, objecting in Edmund’s direction. “Hey!” 

“Lay-about _surg_ eons!” Edmund shouted, his irritation plain in his voice. He took a moment to stare at Jackson before he said, “Did I not instruct you to open up that cadaver in your—”

“Yeah, yeah, you did.” Jackson drew another pull from his cigarette, then stepped forward to take up the chair on the opposite side of Edmund’s desk. “And perhaps if you asked about it, you’d know that I found arsenic in his belly. Case solved.” Jackson tipped an invisible hat. “You’re welcome.” 

Fred sighed. “Gentlemen, I do not have time for a lover’s squabble.” 

Both Jackson and Edmund rolled their eyes like rebuked children, then glared at the wall. 

“Now. Ed.” Fred propped himself against the surface of the desk, his face close to Edmund’s. “You will set your resources to the restoration of order on your docksides.” 

Setting his jaw, Edmund tried to insist, “Fred, there is _no_ —”

“ _And,_ ” Fred continued. “You will cooperate—even collaborate—with that reporter Best, at the Star, and set the record straight.” Both subordinates remained quiet as Fred straightened up and strode toward the door. “Good day, gentleman.” 

When Fred’s footsteps faded down the stairs, Jackson raised his face to Edmund’s. “So are we really looking for a monster?”

Edmund inhaled slowly. Exhaled just as slowly. Trying to gather himself and remember the promises he had sworn to, the duties to which he was obligated. Finally, he swept his tongue across the surface of his teeth—upper jaw, then lower—and replied, “We have our orders.” 

“In the Thames?” 

Edmund closed his eyes. “It would appear so, yes.” 

“What’s this about a monster in the Thames?” Bennet’s voice entered the room before his body, which crossed the threshold at a slow, even pace. 

Edmund, relieved for the sight of him, threw his arms toward his sergeant and said, “Bennet! Thank God, a cool head and a sound mind. Tell me, there cannot possibly be a creature that lurks in the waters of the Thames—a creature as yet unknown to mankind?”

Bennet slipped his hands into his pockets and leaned against the wall. “I have heard tell of sea creatures making their way upriver.” 

“Ah- _ha!_ ” Jackson shouted, pointing at Bennet, then at Edmund.

Edmund waved Jackson silent. “Continue, Sergeant.” 

“But nothing unheard of, sir. Sharks, large fish, and the like.” 

Now it was Edmund’s turn to flash a self-satisfied expression in Jackson’s direction. 

Jackson _tsk_ ed. “Oh, don’t be so sure, Reid,” he said. “Just imagine the depth and breadth of the ocean, it’s surface nothin’ but ripples of blue as far as you can see. And beneath...waters full of the most—”

“Save your poetry, Captain!” Edmund shouted.

With a scowl, Jackson continued. “The ocean contains mysteries the world’s scientists cannot yet name. Endless mysteries. Are you so arrogant, Reid, that you would claim to know more of the ocean than scientists themselves?” 

Edmund clicked his tongue and turned away from Captain Know-It-All Jackson, annoyed. He let his chin fall to his chest and quietly replied, “Of course not.” 

Then he found himself propelled forward when Jackson clapped him on the back. “Well!” Jackson said, his tone far too happy for Edmund’s comfort. “Then let us investigate! Let us find this monster of the Thames!” 


End file.
